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The Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton, Eaton, Ingham Counties has sub-contracted with Kent County Network 180 to receive $70,000 through a grant with the State of Michigan to hold Youth Mental Health First Aid classes. These classes are free and you need no other education. Classes are taking place at 812 E Jolly Road Lansing, Mi 48190 on August 14, August 18, August 26, August 28, September 3, September 10, September 18, September 22, September 23, and September 30.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human service workers, and caring citizens how to help an adolescent (12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. You will learn common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, potential warning signs and risk factors for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including ADHA), and eating disorders, 5-step Action Plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and you will find resources available to help someone with a mental health problem.

Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who, regularly interact with young people but this class is open to all members of the communities in Ingham, Clinton, and Eaton counties. A free lunch is provided.

Class time is from 8:30-5:00 p.m. and continuing education credits are available for teacher, nurses, social workers and substance use providers.

Adult Mental Health First Aid trainings are also available. There are two classes left with openings. September 11 and September 29.

The training is free for those who live/work in Clinton, Ingham, and Eaton Counties. To register contact 517-346-8244 or 517-346-8238. You may also register at www.eventbrite.com. Contact Stacy Smith at 517-449-4850 with any questions.

Prematurity, whose deadly side effects include brain hemorrhages, collapsed lungs and failing organs, is the leading killer of Detroit’s babies. It’s the major component of infant mortality — a catch-all term comprising all conditions that claim children before their first birthday.

Throughout the nation, Michigan, and particularly in Detroit, Medicaid-enrolled children consistently have poorer health outcomes than children with private insurance. Families and service providers encounter a frustrating, fragmented system of multiple programs and barriers that impede access to health and mental health services for children. Quality, coordinated, preventative care through a medical home has shown to improve health outcomes and lower healthcare costs by reducing emergency room usage and unnecessary hospitalizations. The Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program (WCHAP) is part of this national movement to improve the quality of healthcare by assuring that all children have a family centered medical home.

The Children’s Healthcare Access Program (CHAP) is a children’s medical home implementation model that targets Medicaid-enrolled children to advance healthcare quality and coordinate services among health providers, health plans and multiple community partners. WCHAP is an independent, physician- led, pilot program that was recently awarded a three-year $1.5 million grant from The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) in Battle Creek, Mich. With initial funding from the Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., the WCHAP pilot began in February 2011 as a public–private collaborative and is currently comprised of seven pediatric practices – including Michigan’s largest hospital for children and the largest Federally Qualified Health Clinic – as well as three Medicaid health plans, and multiple local and state community partners.

“We are deeply appreciative of the Kellogg Foundation’s investment in our vision and work to strengthen partnerships between families, health, mental health education and social services in order to improve the health and well-being of our children.” said Jametta Lilly, CEO of WCHAP. “WCHAP uniquely works as a change agent by empowering families, supporting quality improvement and innovation with pediatric practices and advancing systems change with multiple partners to help resolve fragmentation and inefficiencies.”

Medical home models, like CHAP, are an approach that transforms primary care practices to be more accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. WCHAP is the second CHAP model being implemented in the state. WCHAP builds on the successes of the CHAP in Kent County, Mich., which has demonstrated significant reductions in emergency room use and unnecessary hospitalizations while reducing healthcare costs. Kent and Wayne CHAP are leaders in the Michigan CHAP (MI-CHAP) collaborative, which includes eight additional communities interested in dramatically improving the health of vulnerable children throughout Michigan.

With WKKF support, WCHAP will expand its services to an additional 4,000 Detroit children from birth through age 21 and will engage additional pediatric practices to impact some 40,000 children. The WKKF investment will also strengthen WCHAP’s efforts in its specialty areas, several which address top health disparities among children in Detroit, including:

Increasing coordination and integration between physical and behavioral/mental health; and

Bolstering the Innovation and Incentives Program to assist pediatric practices in meeting medical
home standards.

“The Kellogg Foundation believes that every child in Detroit should receive high quality health care,” said Linda Jo Doctor, program officer for WKKF. “The advancement of family centered medical homes is a key strategy to achieve this because we know that medical homes help reduce health inequities and promote child and family well-being.”
Please contact WCHAP to hear family and pediatric voices engaged in advancing family centered medical home to improve child health and wellness in Detroit and Wayne County.

About the Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program (WCHAP)

WCHAP is an independent, physician led, public-private community health collaborative. The Children’s Healthcare Access Program, CHAP, is a proven medical home implementation model built on the successes of Kent CHAP in Grand Rapids, Mich; and is specifically tailored to improve health outcomes for vulnerable children and families enrolled in Medicaid. CHAP helps transform pediatric primary care practices to become more accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered,

coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. WCHAP works to improve quality, access and child health outcomes; strengthen provider, family and community partnerships; and reduce costs and advance systems change. For more information, visit www.wchap.org and the America Academy of Pediatrics at www.aap.org.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

Three-quarters of Americans support a nationwide program to double the value of SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps) when used at farmers markets, according to a recent survey commissioned by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The poll finds strong support for making produce affordable and accessible to all Americans and that officials at all levels—national, state and local—have a role to play in ensuring that access.

“Americans want produce that is healthy, affordable, green and fair,” said Dr. Gail Christopher, vice president – program strategy at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “We see strong support here for food that is good not only for the people eating it, but also for the people producing it.”

The survey was released today at the foundation’s Food & Community Conference, a gathering of more than 600 active participants in the good food movement, including farmers, school food workers, academics, urban agriculture pioneers, filmmakers, health activists, writers and more.

In the poll, 68 percent of those surveyed said it was “very important” that all Americans have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables; an additional 25 percent said it is “somewhat important.”

Michigan’s Double Up Food Bucks has worked successfully to increase access to fresh produce among low-income families by doubling the value of SNAP benefits at farmers markets. Seventy-five percent of poll participants said they support a similar program at the national level as a way to help American produce farmers and low-income families.

Strong support for farmworkers and local growers
Respondents also showed support for those harvesting their produce. Asked if they would be willing to pay $1.50 more for produce each month to ensure fair wages are paid to those picking fruits and vegetables, 88 percent strongly or partly agreed. A study by the Economic Policy Institute said such a raise would increase the pay of a farm worker making $10,000 a year to $14,000, which would be above the poverty line.

Americans also stand behind their local growers. More than 80 percent strongly or partly agreed that Washington, D.C. should shift its support toward smaller, local fruit and vegetable farmers and away from large farm businesses. Nearly 90 percent strongly or partly agreed they would pay more for produce if that money stayed in the community.

Officials have a role in ensuring access to fresh produce
Those surveyed said national, state and local officials, as well as community members, have a role to play in ensuring that people have access to local, fresh produce:

*81 percent strongly or partly agree that Washington, DC, needs to do more to increase access to locally produced fruits and vegetables.

*86 percent strongly or partly agree that state and local officials should play a role in ensuring access to local, fresh food.

*89 percent strongly or partly agree that the community needs to play a role in ensuring access to local, fresh food.

Moreover, people are putting both money and time into supporting local, fresh produce. Seventy percent reported shopping at farmers markets in the past year, while 45 percent said they’d gotten food from their own garden or farm. Sixty-eight percent said they eat more fresh produce than they did five years ago.

“Americans are telling us they support a values-based food system,” Dr. Christopher said.

“They favor locally grown and produced food, community involvement, sustainability and fairness, which helps to ensure safe, healthy and affordable food for everyone.”

The survey was conducted by Lauer Johnson Research of 800 adults using mobile or landline phones from April 18–22, 2012. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Bright Ideas

Even when controlling for poverty, education level, and tobacco use of a mother, maternal and infant health outcomes are far worse for minority populations than European-American women. What's causing the continued disparities? And what can West Michigan do to ensure all babies born here have the best chance of reaching their potential? Zinta Aistars reports on Strong Beginnings, one local program working to give all families a fair start.

Parents working more than one job or odd hours, a lack of funds, and no transportation often prevent kids from experiencing one of Michigan’s incredible natural resources. For the majority of west side Grand Rapids elementary school kids, Lake Michigan is sadly out of reach. OST has teamed up with Grand Rapids Public Schools to give fourth-graders at west side schools the opportunity to experience the big lake firsthand.